Kltpzyxm
by Dragonhulk
Summary: Sometimes it can be a good thing when fifth dimensional imps visit. Story number six in the Inheritance series.
1. Chapter 1

Kltpzyxm

Disclaimer: I own neither Buffy or Superman.

Ratting: Teen

Summary: Sometimes it can be a good thing when fifth dimensional imps visit. Story number six in the Inheritance series.

Xander smiled as he gazed at the peaceful looking orb that was slowly turning beneath him. It was during times like this that made all the crap he had to go through seem worthwhile.

"It truly is a incredible sight," said Stephanie, her golden hair framing a face that put some of the pure blooded Amazons to shame.

"Yeah, unfortunately it can also be kind of distracting," said Xander as he ran a hand through his ruffled hair.

"Writers block again?" asked the blond Amazon with a bit of a smirk.

"Oh sure go ahead and laugh," said Xander with an equal smirk. "I'll have you know that I have a great story, it's just difficult to write without anyone finding out that I have an insiders perspective."

"Another book about superheroes?" asked Stephanie with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep, now that we're becoming more accepted my publishers have been demanding that I write another story. So here I am on the moon trying to clear my head so I can write a story about what would have happened if my father, the original Superman had lived," said the current last son of Krypton.

"So why are you here, and not writing your book?" asked Wonder Woman.

"Kyle snores, and I can't seem to block it out today," said Xander, referring to the fact that the emerald artist had been evicted and was now living at the Watchtower until he found a new place.

"Sorry to hear that," said Stephanie as she tried to hold back her laughter.

"It's no big, I'll either get my hearing back under control or I'll see how well a laptop works in space," said Xander with a shrug.

"Well if you need someone to talk to feel free to visit me in the Monitor Room," said Stephanie as she started to walk away.

After a few moments of imagining just what a visit should entail, Xander had to forcefully get his mind on another track.

Bad Xander, no fantasies about the Amazon sex Goddess. You just got to the point where she doesn't threaten to kill you with her magical sword.

Then maybe a few fantasies about Cassandra? Tight leather costume has many naughty possibilities.

Shut up brain, or I'll stab you with a Kryptonite q-tip.

Come on, not even a little day dream about the time your x-ray vision kicked in while you were looking at Cordelia?

"I think I was safer when I was using my imagination less often," muttered Xander as he made his way back to his personal room in the Watchtower. Apparently his hormones got supercharged with the rest of him, not a good superpower when he was trying to keep a nice business relationship with women who dressed in tights and tight leather.

When Xander finally entered his private room he was shocked at the sight that was in front of him. There was Stephanie, completely unclothed, with her long blond hair barely concealing the rather large endowments she had inherited from her mother.

"It's about time you came back here," said the Amazon in a voice that would make long time Penthouse readers break out in a sweat.

"Okay, either super-luck is a new power for me, or you aren't really who you appear to be," said Xander as he brought some heat vision into his eyes, turning them an angry red.

"Personally I'd say super-luck," said the person who was probably featured in the fantasies of ninety percent of the straight young men in the world, as she stood up, brushed her hair back and started to walk towards Xander.

"I'd say not," said Xander as he let loose his heat vision, but not at the blond standing in front of him.

"YEEEOUCH!" cried a now visible midget with a purple derby hat. "Well that's a fine thank you."

"Exactly what should I be thanking you for here?" asked Xander as the blond stroked his face as if nothing strange was happening.

"For the blond duplicate there," said the small being as he pulled out a cigar and lit it up. "You're a teenage boy, and if you don't safely let out some of that tension then something's going to snap."

"Just make her go away, please," said Xander as the blond double started to nibble on his ear. If this didn't stop soon he was going to do something he knew he was going to regret.

"It's your life kid," said the intruder, and with a snap of his gloved hands, they were alone.

"Thanks," said Xander as he let out a sigh of relief. "Now would you mind telling me just who you are?"

"Names Mxyzptlk, Mister Mxyzptlk, and I'm going to be the best friend you ever had," said the stranger with a small bow.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but how exactly are you going to do that?" asked Xander.

"My making sure you never get bored my boy," said the small man with an impish grin.

"Um, you do realize that I deal with things that would drive most people insane on a regular basis, right? Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I don't need any more excitement in my life," said Xander in a way that he hoped wouldn't offend Mxyzptlk. The man could create very real duplicates with a snap of his fingers, and Xander didn't want to see what he would create if he got pissed off.

"You may have a point there," said Mxyzptlk as he took a long puff on his cigar. "I could always bring back blondie for a bit of relaxation."

"NO!" shouted Xander in panic. "I've seen enough cartoons and sitcoms to know that the second that happens the real Wonder Woman, or another woman that I'm close to will walk through the door. I don't know about you, but I like keeping my internal organs internal."

"Smart kid," said Mxyzptlk as he started to casually float into the air. "Lets see, big disasters are played out, and you don't let your hormones control you like most teenagers. You know I never had this kind of a creative block with your father.

"That's it!" shouted the floating man as he turned his gaze back to Xander. "Just because I can't go back there for another sixty days doesn't mean that I can't send things there. Man this is going to be so good."

"What's going to be so good?" asked Xander while making a mental note to install panic buttons in the Watchtower in the future. He was getting a real bad feeling about this situation, the kind of bad feeling that would go away if he knew there was some back up coming.

"Kid get ready to have the best present you ever had," said Mxyzptlk as he threw a lightning bolt at Xander.


	2. Fathers Day

Xander blinked a few times trying to make out more than just dark shapes. To be honest he had been expecting some more pain, he had just been hit by a magical lightning bolt after all, there should have some more adverse side effects other then blindness and a ringing in his ears.

Suddenly one of the larger dark shapes slammed into him, giving him the pain he had been expecting. Not one to simply let things slide after being attacked Xander quickly responded with a quick jab at where he figured the shape's head was.

Xander was surprised when the figure didn't instantly go down. The punch may have only been about half as strong as what Xander could deliver, but that was usually more than enough to put whatever had attacked him down. In this case not only did the figure not go down it threw Xander through something solid, probably a window.

Luckily by this time his vision had returned enough that he could tell the difference between the lights in the sky. This was important because without this distinction he wouldn't be able to stop himself from plowing into some innocent person when he tried to fly out of here. And because super or not Xander's luck sucked, something that became evident as the large shape grabbed his cape.

On the bright side he was outside now, and the direct application of sunlight was quickly healing him of any damage the imp had done do him after putting the whammy on him. This meant that shapes were becoming more defined, and he could tell that the shape was trying to talk to him.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" asked Xander in an attempt to buy more time.

"I asked you who you were," said the shape. At least that's what Xander thought it said it was still difficult to tell.

"Name's Superman, pick up a paper some time." The half Kryptonian stated as he used his strength to pry himself from the iron grip he had been held in.

Now the shapes were becoming more defined. Details were visible that weren't before, and those details were quickly turning Xander's opponent into a very familiar form. Well, familiar with the part of him that had seen it every day in the mirror that is.

"I'm afraid that one is already taken," said Superman with a slight half grin.

Xander's mind was in turmoil. This was his father, every memory he had inherited from his biological father said that the person hovering in front of him was the original Superman, but it wasn't. If time travel was involved then he'd remember his father meeting him, besides the costume was slightly different.

With all these thoughts whirling through his head Xander could be forgiven for not saying anything more profound than, "That's great dad, now if you'll excuse me I'm just going to go sit on that building before I fall out of the sky."

"What did you just call me?" The Man of Steel asked as he closely followed Xander to the roof of a nearby building.

"Before we get into a very long and mind numbing discussion can you answer a few questions for me?" asked Xander as he settled down.

"Depending on the question I really don't see the harm."

"Okay first, what year is it?"

"2003."

"Okay, so time travel is involved, but in the wrong direction," said Xander as he started to rub his temples. "Are you at all familiar with alternate planes of existence?"

"I've had some experiences with them, yes."

"Okay final question, ever met a midget that goes by Mxyzptlk?"

"Not him," said Superman with an audible groan.

"I'll take that as a yes," said the dimension displaced teen. "I take it that he does this stuff on a regular basis?"

"Every three months, like clock work. He's early this time though; I just got rid of him a month ago."

"He mentioned something about not being able to come himself, but being able to send things, namely me."

"Great," said Superman as he ran a hand through his hair. "Any particular reason why he sent you?"

"Believe it or not, I think he was trying to be nice," said the dark eyed teen as he unconsciously copied the gesture the older man had made. "Like I said, in my dimension you're my father, but I never really had a chance to get to know you. Sending me here was probably his idea of giving me the next best thing to a conversation with my real dad."

"I see." Superman said as he rose back into the air. "I'm going to have to ask you to come with me. I think you're telling the truth, but I'm going to have to make sure before we go any further."

"I understand," Xander said as he followed the other man into the sky. "Just one question though, why did you attack me back there?"

"You interrupted the first night my wife and I have had together in a week. I'm sorry if you think I overreacted but under the circumstances…."

"Stop! Just stop right there okay? That statement alone was quickly going past TMI land and speeding towards images that would have haunted me for the rest of my natural life."

"I think I only understood about half of what you said."

"Congratulations, if you understood half of what I said then you've doubled your parent comprehension quota, usually parents only understand a quarter of what their kids say."

"I remember that," said the last son of El as he landed in front of a warehouse.

"This is it?" asked Xander.

"What were you expecting?"

"I figured you'd take me to the JSA headquarters and have Dr. Fate, or some other mystic take a look at me." Xander said as he walked into the building. "Wait, do you guys even have a JSA in this world? FDR brought them together to fight the Nazis in my world, and unless things are really screwed up on this world the Second World War should be over by now."

"We have a JSA, but we're not going to see them," said Superman right before Xander felt a tingle go through his body, and then found himself in a completely different room.

"Welcome to the Watchtower," said Superman as some doors hissed open and Xander saw a familiar sight of Earth from lunar orbit.

"Nice to know there are a few things that are the same, no matter where you go," said Xander with a smirk, before he let himself be led through the familiar, yet different halls to have his identity confirmed.


	3. Meet the Friends

As Xander walked down the halls he took careful note of just what was the same and what was different. If he was honest with himself nothing was the same, and this version was better. There was technology in this building that he couldn't begin to understand much less recreate, even with all the toys his father had left behind in the Fortress.

Xander was sure that Superman was aware of what he was doing. However if the native Kryptonian had any objections about the new arrival scanning the building, they weren't voiced.

"We're here," said Superman as a thick blast door opened to reveal a room with a large round table, and one large green alien.

"Hello Superman, and Superman," said the alien as he nodded to Superman and Xander respectively.

"Just call me Xander, people are less likely to get confused that way," said the teen. "Also just how did you know about the Superman thing?"

"J'onn is a telepath, he's the one who'll confirm your identity," said Superman.

"So he was reading my mind?" asked Xander in a somewhat cautious tone.

"Only enough to ascertain that you would not be a threat if you were brought to the Watchtower. The most sacred rule among my people is to never fully enter another's mind without permission," said J'onn.

Xander sat and thought for a moment. It was obvious that this world's version of his father trusted this fellow alien with the green skin and almost caveman skull. So the question wasn't how much to trust J'onn, but how much to trust Superman.

"Do what you have to do," said Xander as he reached the only conclusion he could. "I need to warn you though, I've been possessed by a primal spirit and the ghost of my father, so my head is probably a bit messed up."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to be careful," said J'onn, a twinkle in his solid red eyeballs.

The green alien approached Xander and put two gigantic hands on either side of the young man's head. Two green eyelids covered two red spheres that for some reason reminded Xander of the planet Mars, and the process began. It wasn't an unpleasant experience really, just a slight tingle running from the back of his brain and moving towards the front, no worse than a mild ice cream headache.

Soon it was over and the two alien eyes were once again uncovered. For a moment Xander considered it odd that he thought of anything as alien with his heritage, but those two eyes were unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"All the memories I accessed say that he has been nothing but truthful with us," said J'onn.

"How many of the memories did you access?" asked a figure from the shadows.

Turning Xander saw that the Batman had arrived to the little welcome party. A quick application of his x-ray vision revealed that the mask had been lined with led. Switching to his microscopic vision Xander quickly scanned the mans DNA and was pleased to see that this was the original man, or Batman if you prefer.

"As many as I felt I needed to, including everything pertaining to the two possessions he mentioned. His memories of those times are authentic, not manufactured. Also the remains are just what he said they are, a primal presence that is only capable of the basest emotions, and an echo that is almost an exact match to Superman's thought patterns."

"How did you know about this so quickly?" asked Superman in a slightly colder tone than Xander had been expecting. There wasn't any real malice in the tone, but it lacked the warmth that should have been there when a man talks to his best friend.

"When someone arrives in your home claiming to be Superman, and has the power to back it up it gets my attention," said the Dark Knight.

"Like I told Kermit over here, call me Xander," said the dark haired teen with a smirk. After over a year making sure he was always the responsible one, the Superman, it was nice to act his age.

"Kermit?" asked the green man as he raised one hairless eyebrow.

"Well I don't have any first hand experience, but from what I've heard it isn't easy being green."

"And apparently he also has Plastic Man's sense of humor," stated Batman with a bit of a growl in his voice.

"Who?" asked Xander.

"He's a hero and teammate in this world that has a unique sense of humor. Don't you have a version of him on your world?" asked Superman.

"Maybe, maybe not. He may be out there some where on my world, but if he is I haven't met anyone using that name. Then again I haven't met J'onn's counterpart either, so I may not win the award for most observant person on Earth."

"I'm very difficult to find when I choose to be," said the green alien with a hint of a smirk.

"We're getting off track. The facts are he's here, but he shouldn't be, we should be discussing how to send him home," said the grim voice from the shadows.

"Just send me to Dr. Fate or some other mystic," said Xander with a shrug. "This Mxyzptlk guy used magic to send me crashing through a whole bunch of dimensional barriers. Fate or another mystic with enough power should be able to back track the energy signature to my home dimension for another twenty four hours, or until the dimensional walls are completely healed again."

When everyone else in the room simply stared at him in puzzlement the young man simply gave another shrug. It wasn't like it was his fault that he was operating out of a town where knowing just about all the inns and outs of magically crossing dimensions may just save his life, and the lives of everyone else on the world.

"Dr. Fate it is then," said Superman as he gestured Xander to follow him back to the transporter room.

* * *

The teleporters were once again an interesting experience. Somehow the Justice League of this world had found a way around the requirement of having machines on both ends working to maintain a coherent signal, and Xander was becoming determined to know how they work before he went back home. Even if he could only work out enough to send people directly from his Watchtower to where ever they needed to go it would greatly decrease their response time.

Those thoughts quickly came to a crashing halt though. The moment that Xander had reentered the atmosphere he had automatically opened up his senses so that he would know of any trouble, the same thing he did when he transported to Earth from his Watchtower. This time however he heard three words that he would never hear in his world, three words that he hadn't even imagined in his darkest of nightmares, President Alexander Luthor.

For a brief moment the young man fought the urge to fly to D.C. and vaporize the dimensional double of the man that was responsible for the deaths of both his biological parents. The only things that stopped him were the possibility, however slim it may be, that in this reality Lex Luthor may be a good man. The second was something that Perry White had drilled into his father; a good reporter gets all the facts to a story before he types the first word. While Xander himself wasn't a journalist he still knew the value of getting all the facts before acting.

This internal struggle lasted about half a second at most, but that was still enough time for Batman to notice and move his hand over a conspicuous led lined pouch in his utility belt.

"It's okay," said Xander as he turned toward the Batman. "I'm not going to do anything stupid, I just heard something that didn't agree with me, something that will need to be explained in great detail later."

Xander supposed that he should be at least somewhat upset that Batman had immediately gone for the big guns, but surprisingly enough he wasn't. In Xander's opinion Bruce just wouldn't be Bruce if he wasn't constantly evaluating and taking steps to neutralize threats to his friends and family.

"Wow," said Xander as his mind finally caught up with just what building he was standing in front of. This was the one place he hadn't visited back when he was looking up his father's old friends and hangouts. For some reason Xander didn't want to see what the Brownstone had become in the years after the Justice Society had disbanded. There were three possible options, and the best of them was that someone else had bought the building and turned it into an apartment complex. The very thought that it had been destroyed, or worse simply left to rot over the decades had been too much for the young teen, so he had simply skipped that part of the tour.

"Wow again," said Xander as he saw two of the men that were waiting for the group at the front door.

"So you're the new Superman, huh?" asked none other than Jay Garrick, the father of the Flash legacy. In this strange new universe the man looked like he was in his sixties instead of his eighties.

"Just call me Xander sir, it's less confusing that way," said Xander as he shook the older mans hand.

"Xander it is then," said Jay with that same smile that was so prevalent in the memories that Xander inherited from his father. "Sorry for not letting you in directly, precautions you know."

"I understand," said Xander as he followed the group into the building.

As Xander waited in the foyer he slowly realized that the Brownstone in this reality was everything the one in his world could have been.

No wait, that wasn't nearly close enough to the truth. The truth was that this was everything that the Brownstone in his world should have been.

Everywhere the young man turned the building was honoring a hero, many of whom Xander recognized, or a battle, many of them taking place after the Society had disbanded in his reality.

Suddenly Xander stopped, seeing two displays that truly caught his eye. He recognized both heroes of course, but in his world they had never been a part of the JSA. Washington had said that neither was powerful enough to fight the Nazi super-science threats. The thought of a masked man, or masked woman for that matter, dieing on the line truly frightened the entire horde of PR people on the Hill. The JSA was supposed to be this bright, invulnerable symbol of American power in the war. They thought that if a mystery man died defending his country people would loose faith, and if people lost faith America would loose the war.

Xander's father hadn't agreed with that line of thought, but he had still told both the hopefuls that they couldn't come, to fight the good fight at home. Either someone in Washington was smarter here, or they had someone really go to bat for them. Either way it was comforting to know that here at least they got the credit for being the heroes they truly were.

"Care to tell us what's so interesting?" asked Superman from where the man of steel was watching Xander.

"These two are the grandparents of the Flash in my world, just thought he may get a kick from knowing that they were part of the JSA here."

"Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle were two of our best members, it's hard to imagine a reality where they didn't join," said another familiar voice, this one belonging to another legend in both worlds Alan Scott, the first man to take the name Green Lantern.

"I'm learning that our worlds are closer to funhouse mirror reflections than anything else, close enough to recognize that both our worlds are similar but different as well. Take this picture for instance," said Xander as he pointed out a picture that showed Hourman, The Flash, some kind of bird man and bird woman, Green Lantern, a man with a crescent moon on his mask, what looked like a wrestler, and Starman posing with Franklin D Roosevelt. "In my world this picture would show Superman and Wonder Woman in place of the bird people, and Dr. Fate instead of the guy with the moon on his mask, and I've never even see the guy that looks like a wrestler."

"Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Dr. Midnight, and the Atom," said Alan. "I know how this must sound, but it seems like your world was a bit lacking in heroes."

"I'd bet that my world has just as many heroes as your world, you'd just find them working in the shadows instead of in a cape," replied Xander, his mind creating images of all the slayers that would have come before Buffy as well as all the people that the Bruce Wayne of his world had inspired.

"People need heroes that aren't afraid of working in the light."

"It's not about fear. Well okay it is, but it isn't about their fear. If people knew everything that really went bump in the night on my world there would be a world wide panic that would probably set us back hundreds of years as far as tolerating differences goes. At least I think that's how the world's been for a long time now, but maybe they're beginning to outgrow it."

"It's been my experience that people will surprise you if you give them half a chance, and the surprise is a nice one more often than not," said Jay.

"Yeah, they do tend to do that don't they," said Xander with a slight grin. "Maybe some of them won't feel the need to hide with the League working in the open."

"Maybe," agreed Jay.

"It's about time," growled Batman as Dr. Fate materialized in the room.

"Forgive me, there were important matters I had to attend to before dealing with this," responded Fate as he walked towards Xander, Alan, and Jay.

"I don't suppose a man named Kent Nelson or maybe Rupert Giles is under that helmet," said Xander as he gazed at the familiar golden helmet.

"Sorry but no," said Fate as he placed his gloved hands on Xanders head.

For a moment nothing happened, but when that moment passed the world seemed to explode around Xander. Images of what was, what is, and what could be flickered through his vision so fast that a part of him wondered if they really existed or if he was just making them up. Then it simply collapsed back into itself, leaving him standing where he had before it had all begun.

"Mxyzptlk is blocking my attempts from outside our dimension. I can't return our visitor until he enters our dimension," said Fate as soon as he lifted his hands from Xanders head.

"So that means that I'm stuck here for sixty days," said Xander, his heart dropping. It wasn't that he didn't think that his world wouldn't be there when he got back, between Buffy and the League there was very little that could happen that they couldn't handle without him, he simply liked helping his friends.

"Now the question is, just who gets stuck with you?" asked Batman.

"The Titans," said Superman after half a moment.

"No," growled Batman, his scowl deepening, if such a thing was possible.

"He's strong enough to contain any trouble until I arrive. It's our best option unless you want to keep our guest at the Watchtower under twenty four hour surveillance."

"Just how much information could we keep from him if he stays on the Watchtower?"

"Not much, if he really has all of my powers."

"Fine, but if anything happens it will be on your hands," snapped the Dark Knight as he turned and stalked out of the room.

"You know I can understand the attitude and all, but that man is beginning to get on my nerves," Xander commented as he watched Batman leave.

"You get used to it," said Superman. "Now come on, there are some people I want to introduce you to."

"Cool," said Xander as he followed Superman out the door. "So what fun and exciting place are we going this time Paris, New York, or L.A.?"

"That last one was close, San Francisco actually," said Superman as he shot into the sky and started to head west.

"Joy of joys," muttered Xander as he quickly followed the native Kryptonian. "So help me if that's where the Hellmouth is located in this dimension I'm going to fire my travel agent."


	4. Not twins but still brothers

The flight across America had been nice, but Xander couldn't completely smother his snicker when he finally saw the building where he would be staying. It was the home of the Teen Titans, and it was in the shape of a giant T.

That alone made it look more like a club house than a serious meeting place for super powered beings, and to Xander that made it perfect. This world had an increased number of superhumans and superhuman battles, so it was nice to see that the teenagers didn't grow up too fast and still had a place to have fun while fighting the good fight.

Soon after both Superman and Xander landed on the island a group of colorfully dressed teens walked out of the building. Some Xander immediately recognized from his dimension, while others he had no clue who they were.

"Well that almost completes the set, and I'm guessing that the rest can be found in Gotham and New York," said Xander as he landed in front of the teen wearing the black tee-shirt that had a familiar red S, and blue jeans. "Hello me, how's life on this side of the mirror?"

"What?" asked the blue eyed youth in complete confusion.

"Sorry, just something I've wanted to say to my dimensional duplicate after watching an episode of Star Trek," said Xander a smile forming on his face at seeing the confusion he caused. "My name's Xander, and I'm Supermans son from a few realities over."

"Is this a joke?" asked the black cyborg.

"I'm afraid not. As far as we can tell Mxyzptlk sent him here, but won't let him leave for at least another sixty days or so," said Superman.

"And I suppose that he gets to stay with us because we have our own half Kryptonian, and our database isn't as extensive as the Justice Leagues," stated Robin.

"That was Batman's reasoning, I thought that Xander may appreciate being with people his own age until he can find a way home."

Xander could still see some reluctance on the faces of the gathered teens, and was confused for a few minutes. Then he figured out what the problem was, this was the superhero equivalent of Giles walking into the Bronze and telling Buffy to play nice with the new kid in town.

"Well I don't have to stay with you guys," said Xander with just a bit more of his old personality leaking through. "But then again, if I don't I can't tell you some of the more embarrassing memories I learned when I was possessed with the spirit of my dad."

"Embarrassing stories about him?" a green skinned man asked eagerly while pointing with his thumb at Superman.

"Nothing that would give away his secret identity, but I could tell you about his first attempt at cooking," said Xander.

"Using heat vision seemed like a great time saver at the time," said Superman, deciding to help Xander out with his plan, even though he wished there was a better way to do this, he had only been ten at the time for crying out loud.

"I vote he stays," said the speedster with a voice that matched the Flash from Xanders world.

"Seconded," said the kid wearing the symbol of the house of El.

"Looks like he's staying then," said the black cyborg.

* * *

Hours later Xander sat on the bed in the room he had been given. The tower had been constructed to house more than the seven current members so he was able to have a room of his own without displacing anyone.

Laying down in the bed Xander was looking forward to getting some shuteye. He hadn't gotten any sleep from the moment he had arrived in this dimension, and the events that had taken place had worn him out.

"Hey, is it alright to come in?" asked a voice from the other side of the door.

"Sure Superboy," said Xander. The Teen of Steel wasn't Xanders exact dimensional counterpart, as shown by the football player physique and blue eyes that didn't match up with Xanders own swimmer body and brown eyes, but still there was a connection. Xander would have probably been the one knocking on Superboy's door if he hadn't been so exhausted.

"Hey," said Superboy as he hesitantly stepped into the room.

That was the only word spoken for a while until Xander finally snapped and said, "Listen, could you just say what you want to say, I've had a really long day."

"What was it like having him as a father," Superboy blurted out. "Superman, I mean."

"You'd know better than me, Superman was killed on my world when I was only a few months old," said Xander as he realized where this conversation was going.

"But you knew all that stuff about him," said Superboy, not really understanding.

"Okay, this is how it happened in my world. Lex Luthor sent me and my mom into the future with one of his psycho scientist inventions. Why he did this I have no idea, but at a guess I'd say that he wanted me and mom out of the way so he could kill us later, or for us to know that he killed Superman and be depressed for the rest of our lives.

"Fast forward a few years and Luthor gets himself killed when he created a black hole. He probably wanted to use it in some kind of death trap for Superman, but it killed him before he could control it. The ironic thing is that Superman was killed trying to stop the black hole from expanding and destroying the world.

"A few decades after Superman and Luthor died, me and my mom arrive in a small town in California. Good news is that Luthor is dead; bad news is that apparently it isn't safe to travel through time like we did so mom is one step from dead. My first memories are of her begging the people who raised me to care for me before she died.

"I wasn't unaffected by the trip either, I was a cripple, for a half Kryptonian that is. I was completely human, even a bit on the scrawny side; I lived that way until one Halloween I decided to dress as Superman. That night a chaos mage decided it would be fun to turn everyone into their costumes; he even went so far as to use the original Superman's cape as part of the costume I bought.

"Long story short. For one night my dad was alive again and saved the day, the same way he always did. Now as far as the Dr. Fate from my world can figure the combination of who I really was, a boost from an Egyptian Goddess of the Setting Sun, and the chaotic nature of chaos magic healed my Kryptonian side, and I got to keep all of Superman's memories after he went back to wherever he was before he possessed my body."

"Wow," said Superboy after he was sure Xander had finished his story. "You know that makes me being an artificially aged half clone of Superman seem almost normal."

"Almost," said Xander with a lop sided grin. "So I need to ask, what's the farm like?"

"Probably the same as it is in your world; I don't think anything's changed there in the last hundred years."

"I doubt that, considering that in my world the farm's now the Smallville mall. Well that and in the memories I got from my dad don't include electricity."

"Wow," said Superboy again as he considered just how bad living on the Kent farm would be if there wasn't any electricity. Ma and Pa were great people, but if he couldn't play his music to escape them now and then he would probably go insane with boredom. "I mean I kinda knew that a lot of Smallville wasn't hooked up to the power grid until the 1940's, but it's strange to know someone who remembers what it was like."

"Yeah, beats a history lesson from old Dusty Binns any day of the week."

"Tell me about it," groused Superboy. "I'm failing his class because I can't stay awake."

"Heh, the running joke back in my dad's day was that they chose the valedictorian simply by counting how many times the students fell asleep in his class. Whoever fell asleep the fewest times either had the brains or the stamina that they deserved to be the valedictorian."

"So that's why the principal keeps walking past the door and counting," said Superboy with a snap of his fingers.

Both teens were able to hold it in until they glanced at one another, then they both burst out laughing. They may not have the exact same genetic code, but they still shared the same sense of humor.

"Okay, one last question," said Superboy. "What did you mean when you said that the set was almost complete?"

"Oh, that," said Xander as he remembered his first words he had spoken when he met the team of teen heroes. "I mean that other than Green Lantern and a few members of the Bat family I've seen the dimensional counterpart of every member of my team back home."

"Really, so who do you have back home?"

"Well Green Lantern like I said. Then there is me, Stargirl, Dr. Fate, Flash, Wonder Woman, Batman, Batgirl, Huntress, and Robin. After meeting this worlds Dr. Fate, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, and seeing a picture of Stargirl in the headquarters of the JSA I've been able to check off most of my list."

"Wait, are you telling me that you're protecting the world with only ten people, and four of them don't have any powers?!"

"It's like I told the JSA's Green Lantern, just because they don't put on a cape doesn't mean that my world doesn't have heroes," said Xander. "From what I've seen my world is a dark reflection of this one, or maybe yours is a light reflection of mine. Everything here is so bright and hopeful, even some of the villains I've seen on the news. In my world most of the heroes don't fight people in bright costumes as much as things that would make Lovecraft wet himself in fear. Maybe all of the superheroes coming out means that we're on our way to making my world like this one, but I think we still have a long way to go until we reach that point."

"Harsh," said Superboy before he lapsed into silence.

"Yeah," said Xander after he contemplated his own words for a while, once again wondering how many heroes from this world existed in his own, but were killed or simply stayed out of the spotlight because of the things they fought.

"Hey, you should come visit the farm while you're here," said Superboy in an attempt to change the subject. "You know get some memories of your own of it, even if this one has electricity and indoor plumbing."

"I think I'll do that," said Xander right before he lost his battle in holding back a yawn.

"I think that's my queue to leave," said Superboy as he got up and started to head toward the door. "Night bro."

"Goodnight," said Xander as he closed his eyes and quickly went to sleep. As he slept he dreamed of a world where no hero had to work in the shadows, not even Slayers, and a part of him vowed to make the dream a reality.


	5. The Family Gathers

Xander drank in the sights and sounds around him and felt a piece of his soul had come home after a long journey. The fact that he was currently in Kansas, and there was nothing but crops beyond the city limits told him that it was more than likely that it was the part of his soul he had inherited from his father making him feel like this, but he wasn't going to complain.

"Is there a reason why you're here?" asked Clark as he appeared on the road next to Xander.

"You almost make it sound like you expected me to stay locked up in Titans Tower until I was sent home," said Xander as he glanced at the counterpart of his father. The man was dressed in the typical Clark Kent attire of a suit and glasses, but he completely lacked that meek aura that made the eyes of the best reporters in Metropolis slide off of him.

"That was the plan," admitted Clark.

"Yeah well, blame Conner, he's the one that told Ma and Pa that their grandchild from another dimension was visiting," said Xander. "As soon as that thing with Raven was over Ma had Conner drag me home by my ear."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," said Clark until Xander leaned his head to the side exposing a red and inflamed ear. "Then again, maybe it was."

"Yeah, expect to get grilled about why you and Lois don't have kids yet during dinner," said Xander as he revealed the reason the elder Kent's had decided to hold a family dinner that night, and it was made clear that attendance was mandatory. "Honestly I'm curious about it myself. From what I've heard you two have been married for a few years now, and Lois doesn't strike me as the type to put her career first for this long."

"It's complicated. After all, no matter how much alike we look, Lois and I are two different species, so it may be imposable for us to have a child."

"You know in all the excitement I can't remember if we were properly introduced, my names Xander Harris, but my birth name is Jole Kent, biological son of Clark and Lois Kent," said Xander in a somewhat playful tone as he reached over and offered Clark his hand.

"Just because it's possible in your dimension doesn't mean it's possible here," said Clark with a shake of his head.

"If I didn't have to hit you hard enough to send you through a wall to make you feel it I'd so give you a dope slap right now," said Xander as he rolled his eyes. "I mean as a writer I know how important it is to learn and hold onto words to make our point, but really by this point in your life you shouldn't even be thinking that something is impossible."

"I try not to think that way. I have my limits, and if I believe that there's nothing I can't do then I'll eventually take on too much and get myself and a lot of other people killed."

"That's why we have friends," said Xander his tone becoming a bit more serious as some memories of his father began to become clearer. "In my world my father learned enough about genetics from the Kryptonion database Jor-El sent with him that he was able to get my mother pregnant. The thing is nothing he learned taught him how to keep me from killing my mother once I had absorbed enough yellow sun light.

"He didn't let that stop him though, because he wanted me just as much as my mom did. So he swallowed his pride and asked his friends from the JSA to help him. Five weeks later Dr. Fate returned from a quest with a magical amulet that emitted red sun radiation and wouldn't harm my mother in the least.

"I haven't been in his universe very long, but I've been here long enough to see that it's possible to combine human and Kryptonion DNA and create life. You have friends that can walk between the layers of reality, or fly to the edges of the galaxy and make it back for dinner. Impossible only exists if you let it, and I think it's in the contract we signed when we became Superman to defy the impossible every chance we get."

"Maybe you're right, but I'd really hate to ask my friends to go through so much for just my personal benefit."

"Just remember that there's no harm in asking as long as you're willing to go to similar lengths for them."

"Maybe," Clark conceded.

"Good, because it's time for the awkward dinner, followed by you being grilled by your parents, while your wife extracts every drop of interesting information from my head."

"You make it sound like you're about to be interrogated by the CIA."

"Please, the CIA lives in envy of the information gathering skills of Lois Lane," Xander stated with a snort.

"And don't you forget it," said the aforementioned reporter as she came into the kitchen.

Dinner went about the way Xander expected it would. Ma and Pa Kent hinted that maybe it was time for Clark and Lois to start thinking about starting their own family while Lois was busy interviewing Xander, even if she would never be able to publish most of the facts she got.

"So Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed in your world as well?" asked Lois.

"Yeah," said Xander as he sat back and let the meal digest. "August 6th, 1945. Paul Tibbets dropped the bomb flanked by the Blackhawks. It's kinda ironic really, the people with the superpowers were the propaganda golden boys, but because of the spear of destiny it was the normal soldiers and scientists that won the war."

"I've never understood why the bombings took place myself; Germany had fallen, and the spear of destiny was lost, there should have been another way to end the war with Japan that didn't involve using such a weapon," stated Clark.

"The argument was brought up, but apparently Japan was working on something called Eternal Dawn in my world. My father was never told what it was exactly, but apparently it could give Japan enough of an advantage that Truman gave the go ahead to drop the bombs," said Xander with a faraway look in his eyes. "Besides, even though we couldn't go on the offensive because of the Spear, that didn't mean that, the JSA didn't fight tooth and nail to hold the line when we could. By the time the bombs dropped everyone had seen so much bloodshed that they just wanted the war to end."

The uncomfortable silence that filled the room was broken by the most overlooked individual in the room. Krypto was apparently smart enough to know that no one was watching him, and used his powers to fly over the table, grab the remains of the turkey, and fly out through the window.

"Geez, first Starfire's garden, now this," said Conner as he got up and started to chase after the dog. "I swear if he keeps this up I'm going to ask Cyborg to make a kryptonite shock collar for him."

Xander simply shook his head at the sight, as if he needed proof that this world was stranger than his own. After all one case of parallel evolution is plausible, but to have two different species from two different worlds look exactly like each other, as well as having the exact same powers under a yellow sun was pushing it. Once can be a coincidence, twice indicates a deeper connection. That or god was feeling lazy.

Oh well, not his world, not his problem. Let the natives sort it out; Xander was perfectly content to simply watch and laugh at the situations the mutt got Conner into. After all it was much funnier when this stuff happened to someone else for a change, even if that someone else was a cloned dimensional twin of him.

* * *

NOTE: Just wanted to apologize to everyone that has been waiting for so long to see this part, only to see that I've written so little. I had honestly stumbled over this part for so long I had lost my inspiration for this series, but because of Methos' fanart, and the reviews left by those of you saying you still loved this series I was able to chisel this part out from a writers block as hard as a diamond. I'm also about a quarter of the way through the next part so I hope to have it out by the end of January, if not sooner.

Note number 2: For those of you on Joshua The Evil Guy has done an authorized story in this universe called Shazam. I may not do more than refference it in my main stories, because they will all revolve around Xander, but it exists for those of you interisted.


End file.
